With food waste contributing directly to global warming the issue is becoming a two edged sword.
Species are becoming smaller as warmer and drier conditions affect early development and growth, according to Singapore-based scientists writing in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The scientists say average temperatures could rise by as much as 7C (45F) by 2100 but research showed that for every degree Celsius of warming, plants of various types shrank by up to 17 per cent and fish by up to 22 per cent.
The trend could make the Earth’s growing human population harder to feed and may lead to extinctions as ecosystems are thrown off kilter.
Smaller fish and crustaceans could affect the nearly one billion people who get their main sources of protein from the sea, warned the researchers.
And feeding the billions of additional people expected on the planet by 2050 will become increasingly difficult as crop plants are unable to grow as large in drier climates, they wrote.
The consequences of species getting smaller were ‘not yet fully understood but could be far-reaching for biodiversity and humans alike’.
The people who predict unrestrained global warming are missing the feedback effect of industrial development on the global ecosystem. Those who think that global warming is happening and those who dont should have the same plan of action: do nothing. See The Limits to Growth.
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